Let's face it, one of the biggest trials as a parent comes when your kids are 'transitioning' between reading picture books and reading more wordy chapter-based fare.

In our experience, most 'early readers' are absolutely appalling, lathering horrid moral lessons in twee illustrations - the very point when a child is looking to maintain their engagement with reading is the point where they are totally switched off by the sort of books they're given in school or often at home (Biff, Chip and Kipper are not in our Keepers list for a reason - though I still admire the subversive streak in the art in those books and maintain that's where their true worth lies).

We were lucky though - we had these fantastic books, the "Murilla Gorilla" series by Jennifer Lloyd and Jacqui Lee as our early readers for C and I can't shout loudly about how great these still are even today.

We first met Murilla back in 2013 when C was just about to start "Big School" for the first time. Back then there weren't very many books that properly embraced the 'chapter' format, but with full colour illustrations and a completely hopeless but utterly engaging lead character, these books were worth their weight in gold for ensuring C became more interested in solo reading.

Murilla is a Gorilla, working as a Jungle Detective in the wilds of Africa. Number one in a field of one, Murilla's slightly haphazard detective methods seem to happen more by accident than design. She's a bit scatterbrained, and before each case her biggest problem is usually finding where all the bits of her detective kit have got to in her rather messy house.

With every case, Murilla is brought in by other animals to solve strange mysteries, disappearances, and even outright theft. She takes her time, is often governed by her rumbling tummy, and quite often likes a snooze in the middle of cases - much to the exasperation of her customers.

However she proves just how smart she is in the end, solving the case with a deft bit of observation and copious notes in her little notebook.

The setting for the books is gorgeous, depicting a junior view of what life might actually be like in an African township where the hustle and bustle of activity around the markets is depicted in these books quite beautifully.

The diverse animal characters are also nicely written but it's Jennifer's humour, alongside Jacqui's brilliant illustrations that mark these out above other early readers. They're genuinely funny (pant-wettingly so for their younger audience but also enough to make us cynical old adults crack a wry grin too).

I used to perform stupid voices when reading these aloud. Murilla as a slightly sonorous sleepy kind of soul, with Mrs Chimpanzee being quite loud and brash and outspoken, and the crocodiles being slightly snappy too.

I always wished these books would turn into a massively successful series (we only have three of them - and never got sent "The Missing Mop" for review sadly,  but I can't find any mention of more, which is a real shame as they're utterly brilliant!) But it's my duty while we're still here to raise their profile a little bit. Honestly, if you're looking for a far better alternative to those detestable kids in the Biff Chip and Kipper books, you really ought to seek these out, they're just fantastic!.

Original Review Links: 

Murilla Gorilla - Jungle Detective by Jennifer Lloyd and Jacqui Lee (Simply Read Books)

ReadItDaddy's FIRST Book of the Week - Week Ending 12th September 2014 - "Murilla Gorilla and the Hammock Problem" by Jennifer Lloyd and Jacqui Lee (Simply Read Books)

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 6th December 2013 - "Murilla Gorilla and the Lost Parasol" by Jennifer Lloyd and Jacqui Lee (Simply Read Books)

Oops, we're just inundated with so many brilliant brilliant books this week that we're going to have to double up our Book of the Week nominations. First though, sliding into our Book of the Week (or should that be "Ook of the Week!") slot with ease, it's the triple for Jennifer Lloyd and Jacqui Lee's utterly sublime simian detective supreme, Murilla Gorilla.

Murilla is the number one detective on the savannah, even if it does take a little while for her to get out of bed in the morning, get organised and get on the case. We've loved her haphazard cases in "Murilla Gorilla Jungle Detective" and "Murilla Gorilla and the Lost Parasol" and we wondered if it would be possible to do a third book that was as funny as the others.

We needn't have worried. Jennifer Lloyd and Jacqui Lee's cool creation still makes us snort with laughter as this time she looks into the case of the holey hammock. Looks into, through and under as poor Okapi discovers that someone has damaged his stock.

Despite a rumbling tummy, Murilla uses all her detective skills to solve the mystery.

Some might argue that these books are pretty formulaic and a bit samey, but they always manage to provide giggles and amusement as Murilla's rather outlandish detective style always seems to bear fruit (perhaps more by accident than design) and her disguises are always a complete hoot too.

"Murilla Gorilla and the Missing Mop" is up next in 2015. We're wondering if Murilla will be stopping by our "Book of the Week" slot again soon, or whether Murilla might be too busy either solving cases, scoffing banana muffins or (more likely) snoozing under a tree.

Charlotte's best bit: Murilla's completely bonkers Fish disguise. Crazy!

Daddy's Favourite bit: I cannot get enough of the Murilla books, purely because they're so much fun to read aloud and 'act out'. Superb!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simply Read Books)

Murilla Gorilla is back! We absolutely loved "Murilla Gorilla - Jungle Detective" and when that first book hinted at a sequel, we waited...and we waited...and we waited. Finally it's arrived after all our waiting (a bit like Murilla herself) and caused such excitement at home, Charlotte's eyes lit up.

Imagine The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency set in an animal world, with Murilla Gorilla as Mma Ramotswe and you'll start to get an idea of why we love this book. It also gives me a good excuse to do a ton of silly animal voices and the mini-chapter format of the book is a brilliant fit for Charlotte's current reading level, where she still loves lots and lots of illustrations but can handle chapters and text too.

So while I washed up, Charlotte began reading the story to me (I love it when this happens) and we learned about Murilla's latest case. Poor Murilla lives in a shack with a leaky roof and when she discovers her mop is broken (after hunting high and low in the house, and eventually finding it in the bath!) Murilla sets out to visit the market for a replacement.

After the huge rainstorm, the market is in a mess but Murilla soon tracks down a new mop, and also a rather forlorn Parrot parasol salesman who has lost a yellow parasol.

Murilla, complete with her detective backpack, is soon on the case. Stopping for a rain-soaked muffin and digging out her magnifying glass, Murilla's haphazard detective skills soon get to the bottom (or should we say top?) of the mystery.

To find out exactly what happened to that missing parasol, and to experience the sheer joy of finding a book that feels so vibrant and different that you just can't help diving in for another read as soon as you've finished, makes this a must-have. Jennifer and Jacqui have come up with a corking good character and we truly hope that Murilla is gearing up for case number three!

Charlotte's best bit: Soggy muffins are no problem when your tummy is rumbling!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Coming up with a multitude of crazy voices for Murilla, the mandrill, the parrot and all the other characters. My kind of book!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simply Read Books)

This is a very interesting little book that popped through our letterbox, courtesy of Simply Read Books. Interesting because at first glance it would be a very very easy book to completely misjudge. A Gorilla detective eh? OK that's fairly novel. But dive in and you discover lots of really cool things.

1) She's a lady - whoah whoah whoah she's a lady
2) She's no Mme Ramotswe by any means but she runs her own detective agency
3) She's slightly disorganised and takes a while to get a handle on a situation but once she does, she's as sharp as a tack.
4)

Murilla Gorilla is potentially one of the most interesting children's book characters in a long time, and Jennifer Lloyd needs to be congratulated for creating a character, a setting and stories that have broad appeal across genders and age groups (though this book is aimed at 6-8 year olds there's absolutely no reason whatsoever that you can't read its 'chapterised' format to younger children. Charlotte absolutely ate it up!)

The story concerns a mysterious muffin theft from Ms Chimpanzee's stall. Murilla Gorilla is called to the scene, and after a slightly slow start (hilarity ensues as we see that Murilla's morning routine is pretty similar to ours. WHERE ARE MY CAR KEYS? Oh they're in the microwave, of course!) Murilla discovers lots of interesting clues around Ms Chimpanzee's stall.

Strange hand-like footprints are the first clue. Who might have feet like that?
Then there are crumbs (mmm, tasty muffin crumbs) so after Murilla makes a quick note, she rather unprofessionally scoffs the evidence!

The trail goes slightly cold until Murilla Gorilla comes up with a fabulous plan to lure the muffin thief out of hiding. Will this genius plan work?

We'll leave you to discover the answer for yourselves. This book really feels fresh, exciting and it's hilariously funny and we won't shut up about it until you've checked it out. Murilla Gorilla is utterly fab!

Watch out for her next adventure, Murilla the Gorilla and the Lost Parasol. Coming very soon!

Charlotte's best bit: Tracing the footprint trails with her finger, and laughing very loudly at where Murilla's detective badge ended up.

Daddy's favourite bit: A brilliant broad-appeal book that both girls AND boys will love. Mums and Dads seem to think that boys won't read a book with a female lead? They really need to try this book, in that case. It's ace!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simply Read Books)

How on earth can you possibly distil some of the world's best loved classics down to a tiny board book containing a handful of pages? HOW? It's impossible surely! Yet the Cozy Classics range has done exactly that, with plans to add more to their rather impressive line-up.

We took a look at three of the books and really could not choose between them for a 'book of the week' - and they're that good that we had to nominate all three.

In "Les Miserables", children are introduced to Victor Hugo's dark and sometimes disturbing world as we meet Jean Valjean and Cosette, learning how their paths cross and how this changes Jean Valjean's life and rather disreputable characteristics.

In "Moby Dick" a complex tale of madness and revenge is woven in an exciting and scary seafaring tale of a young sailor, an insane captain and his lust for revenge against the white whale that took his leg. Cozy Classics' version of Captain Ahab is fantastic, as is their whale (we just had to use him as our header for this piece).

Finally in Pride and Prejudice, we meet two of the Bennett sisters and the dashing (but grumpy) Mr Darcy. Heart-wrenching angst and romance play out in the backdrop of the English countryside.

Purists will scoff perhaps - pointing out that the Cozy Classics treatments of these tales won't actually help children understand the complex plots and machinations within the original novels - but in some ways that's missing the point. What these books successfully do is pique a child's curiosity when they're at Charlotte's age. In all honesty they're actually a bit young for her though it was great for her to be able to dive straight into a range of books and be able to read them all the way through on her own. You see, each page contains one word - rather cunningly picked to summarise particular scenes from the originals and it's done so effectively that you can't help but smile at the choices.

The main reason these have been demanded again, and again (and again! I'm not kidding, these have been read every day at least three times a day since we got them) is the sheer quality of production, presentation and illustration. Utterly delightful needlecraft and felt models of the characters and scenes mean that if you purely take these books as illustrated board books, they're some of the most beautiful you'll find nestling on children's book shelves. Every single character is instantly recognisable (and to Charlotte, the Bennett Sisters were utterly beautiful - particularly in the rather lovely wedding scene at the end of the version of Pride and Prejudice).

We dug out the original books and I read a couple of passages from them as Charlotte showed an interest. To her, this rather interesting 'stepping stone' between something child-friendly, and something fairly complicated and wordy, has been a journey of discovery. And that's pretty much what you'd want any book to be, even books that are as simple but so wonderfully presented as these.

There are plans for more in the series including War and Peace (!) and one I seriously can't wait for - Jane Eyre. Awesome! I'm sincerely hoping they're planning to also do Dracula and Frankenstein too!





Charlotte's best bit: The wedding scene at the end of 'Pride and Prejudice' "So beautiful!"

Daddy's favourite bit: The sinking of the Pequoud in "Moby Dick" - stunning.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simply Read Books)

These two beautiful books are such a perfect fit for our #readitmd13 theme week of 'Parents Telling Stories to their children' - a happy coincidence that they plopped through our letterbox with utterly perfect timing.

When You Were Small / When I Was Small follow the theme of a mummy and a daddy telling their little boy what they were like when they were so tiny they could bathe in a cup, or a whole raspberry became an entire feast.

The books are very reminiscent of the sort of books I grew up with - full of delight and impact from a combination of gentle whimsical storytelling and utterly lovely ink and colour illustrations that are just my cup of Earl Grey.

The best part of all is that Sara's writing stimulates just the type of conversation we love at home, when we tell Charlotte what she was like when she was a baby and I could almost fit her into the palm of my hand, and when she looked so completely lost like a tiny little pea pod in her cot.

(she doesn't believe me, of course - but it's true!)

Beautifully presented with canvas-bound spines (again, lending them a 'classic' feel), the sort of books you'll want to keep so your children can pass them on to their children.

Charlotte's best bit: The little girl riding the family pets like a horse.

Daddy's favourite bit: So many lovely little touches, beautifully presented, wonderfully written and illustrated, completely fell in love with these.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simply Read Books)